Biratnagar, April 24 -- Biratnagar Metropolitan City on Friday launched a campaign to clear footpaths in the market area, aiming to make the city cleaner, more organised and visually appealing.

A team led by Deputy Mayor Shilpa Nirala Karki has begun removing encroachments in the marketplace. The move, however, has directly affected small traders who rely on daily earnings for their livelihoods.

During the campaign, Karki urged vendors to vacate the footpaths voluntarily, but many small vendors complained that they had no alternative spaces to continue their trade. "It is easy to remove us, but where are we supposed to go?" said Ramdev Sah, who sells goods on a pushcart. "People like us survive on daily earnings. It is wrong for the met...